Ottawa has introduced Bill C-9, the First Nations Elections Act. It comes in response to concerns expressed by First Nations in Manitoba and Atlantic Canada about rules governing the election of chiefs and band councils. Among other things C-9 will allow...
Year: 2013
A Really Bad Argument Against De-Amalgamating the Toronto Megacity
Last Friday, Shawn Micallef, a Toronto Star author, wrote a very bad article about why he believes that de-amalgamating Toronto would be a bad idea. I wrote a letter to the editor to the Star, pointing out how ridiculous the article was, but they ran a letter from the...
Aboriginal Engagement and Economic Development
Who would have known that this is a busy week on aboriginal policy in Canada with the sideshow going on in Toronto that has dominated the news headlines? This week has seen heightened aboriginal engagement not through the protests we typically see covered by the news...
Urban Containment and the Housing Bubble in Ireland
Source: Wendell Cox, NewGeography, 19 November 2013 Economist Colm McCarthy says that urban containment policy played a major role in the formation of the housing bubble. In a commentary in the Sunday Independent, Ireland’s leading weekend newspaper, McCarthy relates...
Featured News
Cities Have to Expand for House Prices to Fall
The cost of actually building a house does not vary that much across Canada The Ford government’s plan to expand the land supply available for housing has evoked the usual dog whistles about “urban sprawl” by interests apparently unaware of the strong...
How We Teach Reading Really Does Matter
Reading is the most important skill taught in school. If students don’t learn how to read, not much else that happens there is going to matter. That’s because being able to read is important in virtually every job. Without the ability to read, life itself will be a...
Airships a Real Solution for Northern First Nations
First Nations in northern Manitoba are finally seriously considering another solution to deal with their isolation. The next wave of the future for transporting goods to the north still might be in airships and hybrid air vehicles. A group of northern First Nations...
In the Heart of Edu-Babble
Executive Summary • Anyone who wishes to become a teacher in Canada must hold a valid teaching certificate. In order to qualify for a teaching certificate, prospective teachers must complete a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree from a recognized institution. •...
In the Heart of Edu-Babble
Today the Frontier Centre released In the Heart of Edu-Babble. Anyone who wants to become a teacher in Canada must earn a bachelor of education degree from an education faculty. Their guaranteed clientele gives education faculties an incredible amount of influence...
Extreme Weather Events & Global Warming
An interesting video by the Global Warming Policy Foundation:
The Advocate
Originally printed on ucobserver.org Aruna Papp grew up amid honour-based violence in India. Today she’s a world-recognized champion for vulnerable girls and women everywhere. Pin-drop silence. That was the atmosphere on a sleepy summer Sunday when Aruna Papp, a lay...
Wireless Competition – Two New Studies
Two new studies on wireless competition in Canada were released last week. Also, Bell announced that it was cutting roaming rates to the U.S. “Wireless Competition in Canada: An Assessment” is by Jeffrey Church of the University of Calgary’s School of Public...
Saskatchewan First Nation takes aim at social assistance dependency
Little Pine First Nation, a small band located about 90 kilometres from Lloydminster, is aiming to radically reduce its social assistance rates on reserve. This piece explains what they’re doing. According to the news story, the community has reduced its caseload by...
Western Power Line Sparks Interest
Recently, Manitoba Conservative MP Steven Fletcher promoted the building of a transmission line from Manitoba Hydro’s northern dams (two new ones are planned to be constructed in the next decade) to carry electricity to Saskatchewan and Alberta. Conceptually,...
2013 International Property Rights Index
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy, along with the Property Rights Alliance, today released the 2013 International Property Rights Index (IPRI). The 2013 Index, measures the protection of property rights in 131 countries. This represents 98 per cent of the world...